U.S. stocks close higher; Apple drags on Nasdaq

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks closed higher Friday after gains from a better-than-expected November jobs report shook off a drop in December consumer sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 81.09 points, or 0.6%, to 13,155.13, near session highs, with 24 out of 30 components gaining, led by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. . For the week, the Dow industrials climbed 1% for their third consecutive week of gains.

The S&P 500 Index advanced 4.13 points, or 0.3%, to close at 1,418.07, after dipping into negative territory following the consumer-sentiment index. For the week, the index advanced 0.1% for its third week of gains.

Losses for Apple Inc. , however, weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index , which closed down 11.23 points, or 0.4%, to 2,978.04, a loss of 1.1% for the week. In contrast, Apple shares finished down 2.6% for the day and 8.9% for the week.

Before the stock market opened, the Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 146,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7% from 7.9%. The data topped forecasts as economists had projected an increase of 80,000 jobs and an unchanged unemployment rate. Read: U.S. creates 146,000 jobs in November.

That initially boosted stocks into positive territory across the board, but gains were pared following the release of the University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters preliminary consumer-sentiment index for December that showed a decline to 74.5 from 82.7 in November. Read more on consumer sentiment.

Investors also monitored developments in Washington. House Speaker John Boehner said Friday there has been no progress in negotiations with the White House to avoid the fiscal cliff, or hundreds of billions of dollars of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to take effect in the new year.

On the other side of the aisle, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on Republicans to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for all but the top 2% of earners. Neither, however, appeared to have a pronounced effect on stocks. Read more on Boehner, Pelosi sparring over fiscal cliff.

Investors likely expected no progress at this point, otherwise markets would be down much more on the apparent stalemate, said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.

“They see it as more political posturing,” Luschini said. “The hope trade is alive and well.”

As for consumer sentiment, Luschini said continuous media coverage of the fiscal cliff is starting to weigh on consumers’ psyches, and people are beginning to worry how next year is going to impact their wallet.

The consumer-sentiment number “added a little bit of a negative tone,” said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector research at Charles Schwab. “The jobs numbers weren’t quite as good as maybe initially thought.” As for the fiscal-cliff negotiations, Sorensen said it’s still “up in the air” whether political leaders can get a deal done.

Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners slightly on the New York Stock Exchange, where more than 606 million shares traded hands and composite volume topped 3.1 billion shares by the close.

The U.S. dollar index , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose to 80.433 from 80.250 in North American trade late Thursday. In the Treasury market, yields on 10-year notes rose nearly 4 basis points to 1.63%.

In Europe, markets closed higher following the U.S. jobs data, erasing losses that came after Germany’s Bundesbank sharply cut its forecast for 2013 growth. Read more on European stocks.

U.S. stocks close higher; Apple drags on Nasdaq

By Wallace Witkowski

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks closed higher Friday after gains from a better-than-expected November jobs report shook off a drop in December consumer sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 81.09 points, or 0.6%, to 13,155.13, near session highs, with 24 out of 30 components gaining, led by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. . For the week, the Dow industrials climbed 1% for their third consecutive week of gains.

The S&P 500 Index advanced 4.13 points, or 0.3%, to close at 1,418.07, after dipping into negative territory following the consumer-sentiment index. For the week, the index advanced 0.1% for its third week of gains.

Losses for Apple Inc. , however, weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index , which closed down 11.23 points, or 0.4%, to 2,978.04, a loss of 1.1% for the week. In contrast, Apple shares finished down 2.6% for the day and 8.9% for the week.

Before the stock market opened, the Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 146,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7% from 7.9%. The data topped forecasts as economists had projected an increase of 80,000 jobs and an unchanged unemployment rate. Read: U.S. creates 146,000 jobs in November.

That initially boosted stocks into positive territory across the board, but gains were pared following the release of the University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters preliminary consumer-sentiment index for December that showed a decline to 74.5 from 82.7 in November. Read more on consumer sentiment.

Investors also monitored developments in Washington. House Speaker John Boehner said Friday there has been no progress in negotiations with the White House to avoid the fiscal cliff, or hundreds of billions of dollars of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to take effect in the new year.

On the other side of the aisle, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on Republicans to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for all but the top 2% of earners. Neither, however, appeared to have a pronounced effect on stocks. Read more on Boehner, Pelosi sparring over fiscal cliff.

Investors likely expected no progress at this point, otherwise markets would be down much more on the apparent stalemate, said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.

“They see it as more political posturing,” Luschini said. “The hope trade is alive and well.”

As for consumer sentiment, Luschini said continuous media coverage of the fiscal cliff is starting to weigh on consumers’ psyches, and people are beginning to worry how next year is going to impact their wallet.

The consumer-sentiment number “added a little bit of a negative tone,” said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector research at Charles Schwab. “The jobs numbers weren’t quite as good as maybe initially thought.” As for the fiscal-cliff negotiations, Sorensen said it’s still “up in the air” whether political leaders can get a deal done.

Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners slightly on the New York Stock Exchange, where more than 606 million shares traded hands and composite volume topped 3.1 billion shares by the close.

The U.S. dollar index , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose to 80.433 from 80.250 in North American trade late Thursday. In the Treasury market, yields on 10-year notes rose nearly 4 basis points to 1.63%.

In Europe, markets closed higher following the U.S. jobs data, erasing losses that came after Germany’s Bundesbank sharply cut its forecast for 2013 growth. Read more on European stocks.